Stupid Cupid
by bluetroll
Summary: (AU) Shippo the cupid-in-training has been given a difficult task. His job is to match up an unlikely pair. What sort of fun arises when he messes things up? InuKag
1. Nobody outruns me

**A/N:** I think I'm mad. I haven't even really gotten into the main plot in my other story and yet here I am, starting another one, officially declaring my doom. Before you know it, or even I know it, I'll be starting numerous fics and never continue with them. (cowering from the tomatoes and eggs thrown at me) +__+

** Disclaimer:** I take no part in Inuyasha's creation, although I did come up with my own plot. :D

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"My, my, aren't we under-staffed here?" Totosai licked his thumb and flipped over the page. "So many jobs still left undone. How can we meet this year's goal if not enough workers are out there getting the tasks completed?" 

Putting down the book, he tilted his head and thought for a moment. After a short pause, he opened the left drawer of his desk and took out another book. Skimming through it, he quickly decided on a name. Setting the book aside, he tapped the iron desk with his tiny golden hammer, creating a tinkly bell-like resonance.

"Sire, you called?" A tall dark man appeared out of thin air before Totosai. He bowed to the old man in respect.

"Yes, Ox. Would you kindly fetch apprentice Shippo for me?"

"As you wish, sire." With that said, Ox disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared a few seconds before.

Totosai leaned back into his soft green chair and closed his eyes, waiting for the person he wished to see to arrive.

_Tap tap!_ There was a timid knock on the wooden door.

"Come in!"

A reddish brown-haired young boy came in, seemingly scared and nervous. He asked in a quiet voice, "Did you wish to see me, Master Totosai?"

"Ah, yes. Apprentice Shippo, right?" Totosai sat up and carefully looked the boy over, scrutinizing every single detail.

The older man's silent inspection apparently made the young boy very uncomfortable, as he fidgeted and turned his gaze towards the floor. "Yes, I am apprentice Shippo, third year, of Love Triangle Academy, sire."

"As I understand from your record," Totosai pointed to the black hard-covered book that he had taken out before, "You're two years older than everyone else in your class as you're the only one who failed the previous two graduation exams, am I correct?"

The boy reddened all the way to the tip of his ears. He replied with an ashamed look and regret in his voice, "Yes, sire."

Totosai stroked his beard. "The next graduation exam won't occur until next year, which is 15 months away." He leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "Tell you what, Shippo, how about I offer you a special chance to amend for your failure? If you can complete the assignment that I've set for you, I'll grant you the diploma. What do you think of it?"

"Really sire?" Shippo looked up with bright hopeful eyes. "I couldn't ask for anything more. Please grant me the chance, sire, and I swear on my honour as an apprentice of the Love Triangle Academy that I will complete the assignment at all cost!"

"Now, now, lad, don't get too excited." Totosai smiled. "You should hear what the task is first."

"I'm sorry, sire." He quickly apologized.

"That's okay, no need to apologize." Totosai took out a sheet of paper from a yellow file folder to his right and handed it to Shippo. "Instead of having you writing an exam like the stand procedure, I've decided to give you a practical test. Your job is to match up these two people on the sheet, helping them fall in love with one another."

"But that's the job of a licensed cupid!" Shippo's eyes widened with shock as he stared at Totosai. He stuttered, "How…how can I possibly….that's not…apprentices are not allowed to do that!" He finally exclaimed.

"I know. That's why I've told you that I'm offering you a special chance. Considering that you've had two more years of experience in being a cupid apprentice than everyone else, you should be able to take on a job like this. If you succeed, you'll get your diploma and become a licensed cupid straight away without the one-year follow up training program. Plus, even if you fail the job, you'll just be going back to the academy and waiting to take next year's exam. There's nothing to lose here, is there?"

"I…I suppose not." Shippo said, still dazed by the special offer and privilege that he'd been given.

"So, are we both agreed that you'll take this job then?"

"Yes, Master Totosai. I'll do my best." Shippo promised, face flushed with excitement from being given such a challenge.

"Very well then, you may proceed with your task as soon as you're ready."

Noting that he had been dismissed, Shippo bowed to Totosai and left the room, hands clutching the piece of paper that outlined his job along with a brief profile of the two persons that he was supposed to match up.

x x x

"Master Totosai, why did you…?" Ox began.

"Why did I give the child an upper mid-level difficulty matchmaking task?" Totosai cut him off.

"Yes." Ox gave him a questioning look.

"Well, you do know that we're short-staffed due to the number of cases that has increased right?" Seeing that Ox nodded his head, Totosai continued. "In order to meet the increasing workload, I need to find a way to have more cases completed. The kid Shippo is only the first step, or experiment if you please, in solving the problem. You see, it can't hurt us to let him work on a time consuming B+, or upper mid-level difficulty assignment, can it? If he fails, then we'll just let a licensed cupid take over and send him back to the academy. However, if he succeeds, not only will he be able to prove that he's capable of doing a cupid's job but also that we'll be able to add another member to our workforce. Are you with me so far?" 

Again, Ox nodded his head.

"As a direct result of his success, I'll be able to fully overrule any objections to the changing from written to practical exams for the academy next year, because I'll be able to use him as an example, showing that if a kid at Shippo's level can complete a cupid's job, then there should definitely be no problem for others to do a C+ to C- level cupid assignment as their practical exams, which will lessen a bit of the workload for us while they take care of the C level cases. I'll also be able to cut out the one-year cupid-in-training process that follows their graduation, allowing more fresh cupids to pour into the workforce and thereby increasing our job completion efficiency." Totosai concluded, feeling proud of his ingenious plan.

"But sire, what are you going to do to solve our problem if the kid fails?" Ox posed a question.

Totosai gave him an odd look. "Why, we move on to plan B!"

"Which might be…?"

"I'm afraid you cupids out there will have to work at least 80 hours a week then." Totosai stated mournfully. "What a shame."

Ox cursed silently in his mind. If the future well-being of the cupids depended on whether if a kid who failed his previous exam could complete a B+ task, then he and his fellow cupids probably didn't have a very bright future. Oh, how he hated and hated and hated this world and the increasing human population!

"Sire."

"Yes?"

"Is there by any chance a plan C?"

Totosai grinned evilly. "Do you really want to know?"

Ox groaned. "No, never mind what I've just asked. I'd rather not find out."

x x x

She couldn't believe this! First day of her new life in high school and she overslept! Kagome mentally berated herself as she hurried down the escalator, worming and pushing her way through the morning crowd at the subway station.

It really sucked to need to commute to school, especially when she missed the subway train that she was supposed to take. Now she had to wait for the one that would come at 7:20 and cross her fingers and hope that she would make it on time to attend the opening ceremony. It simply wouldn't do to start off a new school year with bad impressions for the teachers.

She waited by the yellow line and glanced at the clock. The train should be arriving soon… Ah! There it came! 

Instead of waiting for the passengers to get off first, she rushed into the subway car, or rather, was pushed along into it by the eager crowd that gathered behind her. The car was soon filled with people, who, like her, had to commute to school or work.

Kagome tried to adjust herself into a more comfortable position but couldn't, as she soon realized that the car was jam-packed with people and she was deadly stuck somewhere in between them. She sighed inwardly and again cursed herself for her tardiness. If only she had not turned off that stupid alarm clock subconsciously, then she would've been able to take the seven o'clock train and wouldn't have to put up with this "human jam." Really, she swore that she would move to the Arctic or the South Pole someday just to escape from this overwhelming crowd in the city.

The girl standing beside her was trembling. Kagome couldn't help but notice it because they were standing so closely together. She saw that her knuckles had turned white from grabbing her purse too tightly and there were tears in her eyes. Kagome frowned. Although summer hadn't really started, it couldn't be "that" cold even with the AC on in the car. Plus, all this excess human body heat should be enough to make a person sweat, not shiver.

Could she be by any chance claustrophobic? Was she going to throw a seizure? Kagome glanced at the girl worriedly and was about to ask her whether if she was feeling ill when she noticed an unwanted hand that had found its way into the girl's skirt.

"You PERVERT!" She yelled as loudly as she could while grabbing hold of the wrist of that hand and wrenched it away from where it should never have been in the first place.

That hand belonged to a bespectacled, bald, middle-aged man in a cheap suit. 

Heads turned their way and murmur began to spread among the crowd. 

"What…what the hell are you doing?" The man sounded bewildered as he tried to free his hand from Kagome's grasp.

"What the hell am I doing? Might I ask you what the hell were YOU doing to her?" Kagome asked sternly. She turned to the girl beside her. "He was the one who harassed you, wasn't he?"

Throwing a glance at the man, the girl timidly nodded her head.

"You are lying! I didn't do anything to you!" The man turned red as people began pointing at him. He tried vigorously to free his hand away. "No! These kids are lying! Believe me! I've been set up!"

"Sir, I think it's best that you get off quietly at the next stop and report to the station office." A young man told him.

As soon as the subway train came to a stop, Kagome pulled the man off the train, along with the girl and the young man following behind. They headed towards the office.

Suddenly, the man pushed against Kagome very hard, catching her off guard and making her fall into the young man behind her. He fled as fast as his legs could carry him, pushing his way through the rushing crowd, ignoring the curses as he elbowed others aside. Just as he saw the exit not far ahead and thought that he had reached safety, somebody tackled him from behind. 

He dropped heavily to the ground and was pinned against it by no other than Kagome, whose face was flushed from the chase and from the anger that was caused by this shameless man.

"Nobody outruns me" was all he heard before the station officials came to his side and led him to the office.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The girl held Kagome's hands and shook them in gratitude. "I really don't know how to thank you enough for what you've done for me."

Kagome smiled. "There's no need to thank me. This is what any normal person with justice on his or her mind would do. Just remember that if this sort of thing ever happens to you again, or happens to someone around you, speak up! Remaining silent would only make the situation worse."

"Yes, I'll remember that. If this happens again, I'll be brave just like you were." The girl's eyes shone with resolution.

"I bet you will." Kagome's smile widened.

x x x

Inuyasha looked towards where the commotion had been and saw a bald man wearing a cheap suit and glasses being led towards the office by two station officials.

He shrugged.

"None of my business," he muttered as he headed towards the stairs.

x x x

"No! My train! School! The ceremony! I'm running late~~~~~" Abruptly recalling that she was "supposedly" to be on her way to high school, Kagome ran all the way back down the station to catch the next departing sub after bidding the girl a hasty goodbye.

"Hold on! Wait!! Don't leave me!!!" She called and ran along the platform as the subway train closed its doors and departed with a loud puff of the engines, as if it was tossing its head and laughing at her. 

"No, no, no, no, no! This… can't… be… happening………." Kagome sagged down onto the floor as she watched the subway train disappear into the tunnel. She held her head and groaned. "I am SO dead."

x x x

"Hmm… let's see…" Shippo took out his job description file and looked at it as he walked out of the bookstore of the Cupid's Community. On it were profiles of two people along with a photograph of each person. Printed beneath the photographs were:

Matches: _Inuyasha, age 17 & Kagome, age 16_

**A/N:** Please! Stop! No more tomatoes, eggs, or wine bottles. Arrrggghhh!!! Not the knives too! (sobbing) I know this is a weird fic, but heck, I'm writing it anyways. (fleeing) 


	2. What did I do?

**A/N:** (yawn) What on earth am I writing here? I really have absolutely no clue at all…. So….sleepy…. Writing a long chapter tires me out (yeah, like you call this long, only about 2400 words), but I'm used to writing something short, like 1000 words at a time, not 2000. U__U 

Anyways, a big thank you to those of you who reviewed ( Myst Lady, moonfan101, & me). Yes, I love reading the reviews, although there aren't that many of them. ^__^|| They cheer me up and inspire me at the end of a long day, but I won't force you guys to review just because I like them (if there are actually anyone reading this fic…).

**Disclaimer:** (Pulling off flower petals) Mine, not mine, mine, not mine, mine, not mine….oh crap.

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** Chapter 2   
  
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Inuyasha sighed as he shut his shoe locker firmly. It was the beginning of yet another boring school year. Second year into high school (grade 11) and he was already screaming inside his mind to be let out. Whoever invented school anyways? Who made it mandatory to go to school? He swore he would become the prime minister someday just to make the law of going to school illegal. He'd be able to save thousands upon thousands of poor souls like himself who were forced to receive "proper education" and be bored to death in reality. No wonder the student suicidal rate had gone up.

Having changed back into his normal running shoes, he carelessly shoved his bag onto one shoulder and started finding his way out through the crowd of chattering students.

He wasn't particularly eager to get home, but since he didn't have anything to do after school today, he might as well leave since there was no point hanging around.

Well, technically, he was a member of the school Kendou team, but it wasn't as if he was someone who'd show up for regular practices.

A middle-sized girl with long auburn hair intercepted him on his way out. She was fidgety and dared not look at him in the eye. A hand had unconsciously travelled to a strand of her hair and started playing around with it. She began twirling it between her fingers.

"Um…Inuyasha, did…did you…did you get my letter?" She stuttered in a squeaky voice like that of a mouse. An interesting shade of pink was climbing up her cheeks.

Inuyasha cocked up an eyebrow. "You mean the one in a purple envelope sprayed with perfume and sealed with a red heart that was placed in my shoe locker this morning?"

The girl nodded and looked up with hopeful eyes.

"Oh, I read it." Inuyasha shrugged.

"And?" The light of hope was shining brighter in that pair of green eyes.

"And I threw it away," the silver-haired young man replied nonchalantly.

"Wha- What!?" The girl's eyes widened with shock, then the light in them dimmed as she lowered her eyelids and bit her lips, trying hard not to cry. She was heartbroken. "Why?"

Inuyasha gave her a weird look. "You know, I suggest you go to cram school and touch up a bit on your language skills. Have you any idea how mind-boggling it is to read a letter full of grammar and spelling mistakes? Writing 'You gave me hoe' (A/N: hope. `__`||), 'you're my SONSHINE,' 'I draem about you' with the E and the A reversed around isn't something that'd impress me very much. I couldn't help but tear it up after the first couple of sentences. Oh, and I'm allergic to perfume, so next time if you wanna write me a letter again, try not to scent it and remember to proofread your work."

The girl glared at him for a moment before slapping him across the face and bursting out crying. "I HATE YOU! You're such a jerk!!!" She pushed him aside and ran away, covering her face.

The locker room was in a complete silence with everybody staring at Inuyasha.

He touched the red handprint on his face and scowled. Man, who'd have thought that such a tiny girl possessed such strength? The slap stung like hell. 

He looked up and found everyone staring at him. He shot back the accusing looks with his own glare. "What? What did I do?"

x x x

"Kagome, Kagome, Kagome, where is Kagome?" Shippo muttered to himself as he searched for the familiar face from the photo in the crowd below. He did not need to worry about anyone seeing him hovering in the air since cupids were supposed to be invisible and intangible to human beings.

His eyes suddenly brightened up as his gaze fixed on a young girl around the age of 16 walking towards a building, all the while humming a little song to herself. She seemed to be in a good mood. "Aha!" Shippo clapped his hands and followed her inside.

x x x

"A cup of black coffee and an oatcake?" Kagome scribbled down the order before approaching the next customer. "What would you like to order Madame?" She repeated the order while writing it down. Then she turned back to the counter to prepare the ordered items.

Having finally entered high school, Kagome decided that she was old enough and ready to get herself a part-time job. Therefore, after much looking around and searching, she decided on working at a small café close to the subway station.

Her shift was from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and 1-5 p.m. on weekends. Although she was only paid 400 yen an hour, she was content with her job, considering that she was still a student and her job wasn't very demanding. All she had to do was take orders, serve the food, and get the bills. Plus, the café didn't get busy very often even though it was located close to the subway station. Overall, it was an easy job with easy money.

CLING! The clear tinkle of bells sounded as another customer pushed open the glass door and entered the small café.

He looked around and decided on an empty seat by the windows at the back corner of the room.

Kagome grabbed the menu and followed him, setting it down lightly on the table before turning away to resume her original task – brewing a new pot of coffee.

Inuyasha flipped through the menu and briefly skimmed the names of all the different types of drinks and desserts. Having made up his mind, he closed the menu and gave a slight gesture at the waitress behind the counter.

Kagome came forth, taking out her clipboard and a pen. "May I take your order?"

"Yes, I'd like a cup of Blue Mountain." Inuyasha handed the menu back to her.

Kagome tried to hide her surprise as she scribbled down the order. The teenaged boy sitting in front of her seemed to be about her age, no, a year older judging from the two lines sewn on his Hazelnut High School uniform, which indicated the year that the student was in.

It wasn't everyday when someone her age would order coffee over soft drinks, milkshakes, or any other flavoured drinks. She gave him another look before taking the menu away and going back to the counter to get the Blue Mountain.

Inuyasha placed his chin on his palm and gazed out absentmindedly, off to his little own world.

While Kagome was preparing the coffee, Shippo could hardly contain his excitement.

Just when he was worrying about how to get Kagome to meet Inuyasha, the guy came into the café as if by fate!

He rubbed his hands as he looked eagerly down at the two, one behind the counter while the other in a chair. Now all he had to do was creating a chance where they could have an intersection in their path and giving them a chance to leave an impression for the other.

_This is where my secret weapon comes in,_ he thought proudly to himself as he pulled out a pocket version of "The Idiot's Complete Guide to Becoming a Good Cupid," which was the book he bought the other day when he was given the assignment.

"Let's see…" He carefully opened the book and flipped to the table of contents. Locating the page number of chapter one, he quickly jumped to it and started reading.

"Chapter 1: Boy Meets Girl," he read out. "The first step in matching up two people who don't know each other is to create a situation where they will have a chance to know or ask each other's name. For example, in a café situation where either the male or the female is the customer and the other is the waitress or waiter, drinks can be 'accidentally' spilt while being served. Under such circumstance, one may take out one's handkerchief to wipe off the liquid on the other person and let the person keep it. The other person will surely ask for the other's name as he or she promises to wash the handkerchief and give it back."

"Wow! This is perfect!" Shippo shut the book and exclaimed happily. "This is the exact situation as the one here, all right!"

Seeing that Kagome was taking the coffee towards Inuyasha, he decided that there was no better time to act than now.

"Chippi Chippi Padda Padda Cupid Magic!" He bellowed out the incantation that would release his magic.

A banana peel appeared out of nowhere on the floor, which happened to be in Kagome's path.

Kagome felt that she stepped on something squishy before she slipped, falling backward. All one could see was the coffee cup flying upwards, its content spilt across the air in the shape of a rainbow arc.

"Huh?" Inuyasha turned his head just in time to see brown liquid flying in his direction. In an instant, he was wet and covered in brown.

Kagome's piercing scream followed by the shattering of the porcelain cup and the loud cursing of Inuyasha soon filled the tiny café.

Everyone, including the customers and other waitresses, looked up to find a girl struggling to get up, the ground littered with broken pieces of a coffee cup, a banana peel, and some brown liquid, and a young man with an originally gorgeous silver hair stained brown jumping up and down waving his arms because the coffee was superbly hot.

Shippo sweat-dropped. "Um……Ooooooops?"

Had he overdone it a little bit?

He quickly took out his book again and reread the chapter. On the very last page of the chapter, near the bottom, was a footnote in tiny prints:

_Warning: Do not try the café scenario if the drink is hot. The human may be burned. _

"#X%$@^$&^+#&%^#X%$!!!!!!!!!!!!" Despite his age, Shippo knew a lot of profane terms.

x x x

The first thing that popped into Kagome's mind while falling was that she would fall on her head, crack it, and die. _No! I'm too young to end my life pathetically like this!_ She panicked and did the only thing she could think of – scream.

However, when it was clear that she did not fall on her head and that she did not die, her second thought was that her bum hurt like hell. She had landed on it and she knew it'd probably be bruised by tomorrow.

Loud cursing drew her attention away from the "well-being" of her backside and onto a certain young man who was jumping like a mad monkey right in front of her.

Clearly, the unfortunate teen boy had the coffee spilt all over him and it burned him.

_At least he'll smell like coffee now,_ she vaguely thought to herself. _And the brown hair looks kinda cool, but black would probably suit him better. _

_ Oh~~that uniform is ruined! It'll cost some money to have it dry-cleaned and the stains removed…_ She thought as her gaze fell on the used-to-be-white shirt of the school uniform.

Then, with a start, she realized that this wasn't the time to sit on the floor and scrutinize the appearance of the cussing young man. He was the customer and she was supposed to help him!

Kagome struggled to get up and wobbled towards Inuyasha. "Sir, are you all right? I'm sooooooo sorry."

"Hot hot hot hot hot! It's so freaking HOT!" Inuyasha continued jumping around, completely oblivious to Kagome's concerned inquiry and apology.

"Uh oh, the coffee must be burning your skin." Kagome twisted her hands together. What was she supposed to do?

She tried hard to recall any first aid treatment that she had heard or learned about at school. Then she remembered her mother telling her that when someone got burned, you should run cold water on the burn. Okay, water, water, she would need cold water. Kagome frantically looked around. She spotted the bucket left on the side from mopping the floor earlier on.

SPLASH!!! Without second thought, she grabbed the bucket and dumped it on Inuyasha's head.

He stopped his wild parade of hopping around.

He stared at her.

All was silent within the tiny café save the light noise made by water dripping down a very very wet Inuyasha. The water dripped from his hair, down his face, onto his clothes, and finally landed on the small puddle that formed around him. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Kagome looked back and found everyone frozen dead on the spot, gaping at her with his or her mouth hanging open in shock. She turned back to Inuyasha and discovered him to be in a similar state.

"Um….at least you're not burned anymore?" She offered lamely.

Loud, non-stop cursing fired at Kagome resonated across the room. She grimaced and took out her handkerchief to wipe off the water on Inuyasha, all the while apologizing repeatedly, but it looked as if Inuyasha was too caught up in his yelling to hear a word of it.

Soon, the manager came out and apologized to Inuyasha too.

In the end, Inuyasha was given a t-shirt and a pair of track pants to change into, along with money for dry-cleaning his uniform, and special cakes from the café to take home as sincere apologies from the manager.

Without a doubt, Kagome was immediately fired on the third day of her work without given a chance to explain. It really was a bad day for her, which happened to be Friday –– not the 13th. Darn, that was too bad, or else she could've blamed her tough luck on superstition.

With her shoulders sagged like a defeated puppy and each step as heavy as lead, she headed towards the subway station trying very hard not to cry.

Shippo, who was watching her, had a heavy heart too. After all, it was sort of his fault that things turned out this way. AND Inuyasha and Kagome still did not get each other's name.

He sighed heavily. Whoever said that a cupid's job was easy?

However, his cheerful nature would not allow him to fall into depression that easily from one single little fluke. He puffed out his chest. There was always a next time…?


	3. Chocolate Pudding

**A/N:** (laughing hysterically) That's it, no more fanfiction for me! The well of my inspiration has run dry and I'm completely stuck on both of my stories. Yay! Cheers to writer's block! (banging my head on the wall) Somebody help… 

_**c-dog: **_I can't wait for Inu & Kag to end up together too... ^__ But it'll probably be another while~~ (laughing evilly)

_**kagome246:**_ Yeah, I'm probably mistreating Shippo, but.... poor kid, gotta think of a way to repay him back for what I'm putting him through. XP

_**Denisse:**_ Sorry for taking to long to update. I'm very honoured that you like the story. ^_^

**_sumi101_:**Well, Miroku and Sango probably won't really appear in this story... I'm sorry. + 

**Disclaimer:** Hate to break it to you, but Inuyasha doesn't belong to me. How tragic.

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**Chapter 3**

Shippo pouted as he kicked hard at yet another stone lying in his path. The stone bounced and soon skidded to a stop a short distance away. Shippo continued walking.

"Why? Why me?" He wondered. "This is not fair! He's so mean!"

He looked down at his human form and heaved a sigh. He didn't look much different. He was still wearing his favourite green shirt, blue pants, and a light brown vest. His physical appearance didn't change either. It was just that he was now a human; or rather a punished cupid materialized into human flesh and stripped of his magic.

He felt crippled without his magical abilities – the ability to fly, to be able to navigate his way through the human world without a map. Like now, he was lost and had completely no idea where he was heading or where he was located in the human world. All he could tell was that he had been walking through one unfamiliar street after another and he felt hopelessly alone.

"Who would've thought that he could be so stingy and so narrow-minded, out of all people!" He muttered indignantly under his breath.

He turned his gaze towards the sky, light blue and clear of clouds, and shook his fist. He shouted at the invisible person that had occupied his thought. "You didn't even give me the chance to say that I could pay you back!"

Having let out part of his built-up feelings, he resumed his aimless walk.

Similar to what he was doing before, he kicked hard at a stone lying in his way. This stone, being lighter, lifted off the ground and hit the nearby wall. It bounced off and came back to whack Shippo on the head. 

"Ouch!" The poor kid held his head and bent down. "Damn the stone, damn my luck, damn Totosai!" He cursed and shot a glare at the stone lying motionlessly by his feet. 

'_That's what you get for kicking me,'_ it seemed to say quietly.

"Oh, shut up you!" Enraged, Shippo grabbed the stone and threw it far away.

He never thought that he would end up like this: magic taken away and stranded in the human world that was still mostly unknown to him. All he did was just eating a chocolate pudding!

He recalled being led to a room to wait for Master Totosai by Mr. Ox when he went to report his progress on the task given to him.

"Master Totosai will be here in a moment, just wait patiently" he was told. After Ox exited the room, he did wait patiently and quietly like how he instructed him.

He studied the room. There were some cushioned chairs that lined up against the wall like his chair with a tiny coffee table separating each. The floor was carpeted forest green, soft and simple in style. It was just like any normal waiting room that one expected to find at a proper business building, except for the large table in the centre of the room. It was covered by a pyramid of cupped chocolate puddings.

Shippo's eyes bulged. _Wow!_ Never in his life had he seen anything as grand as this. He bet that if the pyramid ever toppled over, he could be completely covered and buried by that vast amount of pudding.

Seconds ticked by and Totosai still hadn't shown up. Shippo glanced at the clock. It had been half an hour and he was getting bored with absolutely nothing to do besides staring at the giant structure located on top of the table at the centre of room.

So much sweet, yummy, delicious chocolate pudding… He gulped. His gaze had transformed from amazement to something close to desire, need, and hunger.

_There are so many of them, I guess it'll be okay if I just take one pudding and eat it._ Shippo told himself as he dragged a chair up close to the table so that he could stand on top of it to reach the cup of pudding positioned at the very top.

There!

Settling back down in his comfy cushioned chair, he began happily enjoying his dessert. Ah~ The taste of soft, rich, creamy chocolate…

"YOU!" Shippo looked towards the source of the voice, which was by the doorway. "You are eating MY favourite chocolate pudding!"

It was Totosai.

Shippo shifted his glance towards the pyramid of chocolate puddings stacked at the centre of the room, then towards the cup he was holding in his hand, and then towards Totosai, whose face was turning red and who seemed extremely mad. Uh oh…… Don't tell him that he –

"You ate my dessert!" Totosai accused, pointing a finger at Shippo.

"But… there's a whole pile of them." Shippo finally managed to find his voice.

"The entire pile is mine!" The old man gave the boy a death glare and made a possessive gesture. "MINE!"

"I'm so sorry sir, I'll – "

The next thing he knew, he was standing all by himself in an empty street.

"I'm turning you into a human for one day to punish you for eating my pudding," Totosai's still-angry voice sounded by his ears. "Good luck surviving down there on your own. That'll teach you to stay away from your elders' food."

"Master Totosai, I didn't mean to eat your pudding! I swear!" Shippo cried exasperatedly. Turning human for one day without any of his magical abilities or any human currency? He would die for sure! How was he supposed to make it through the day without anywhere to go, anything to do, or any food to eat? "Master Totosai, I'm sorry! Please turn me back! Forgive me! I'll buy you 10 puddings to pay for the one I ate! Just don't do this to me. Please!"

All was quiet around him. There was no reply that came from the thin air like it did before. It seemed like the old geezer had left, probably gone back to finish off the rest of his pudding.

"Stingy, mean, nasty, unforgiving old man…" Shippo grumbled sulkily as he once again reviewed the reason why he ended up in the human realm. Still rubbing his head where the stone had hit, he decided that it was time for him to start heading towards who knew where, since he had nothing else better to do.

"Grrr~~"

'Eh?" He noticed a dog growling dangerously at him. "What the – "

It was then that he took note of the somehow seemingly familiar stone that was now resting beside the dog's front paw.

_Oh no,_ he groaned inwardly. The stone that he threw couldn't have possibly hit the dog, could it? He wasn't even aiming when he tossed the damned thing! 

However, when the dog barked and began coming after him, his suspicion was confirmed. He had obviously angered the huge, black, fierce dog. No! It was the stone's fault! He was the victim slash target of the stone too! Why was the dog coming after him, not that piece of rock over there? Not fair…

"Why me?" Shippo wanted to cry as he began running as fast as his short legs could carry him. The barking dog was chasing closely behind, bearing its teeth between the intervals of its barks.

Shippo ran for his dear life.

To think that all this started with a chocolate pudding.

x x x

Carefully balancing the bags in one hand, Kagome stepped out of the grocery store. Her right hand, which was free of grocery bags, held a copy of the Job Search Magazine. Since she got fired from her previous job at the café a few days ago, she decided that she should start looking for another job. After all, it would be hard for a teenager her age to survive without allowances. Plus, it was about time that she started saving up for university tuitions. Due to these reasons, she simply had to find herself another job and thus another source of income.

"Full-time gardener for a mansion with baseball stadium sized garden? Haha, very funny." Kagome rolled her eyes. "I won't exactly call that a garden anymore."

She moved on to the next section on the page.

"Help needed at Ken's Dry-Cleaning Store? Dirtying someone's clothes is pretty much what I was fired for. Cleaning? Not a chance…

"Hm… Hiring assistant for the Butcher Shop? I'll skin you alive!" Kagome glared at the magazine.

"Oh! This one looks perfect for me! A cashier at the convenient store! Let's see, what's the pay – Argghh! 200 yen an hour? Go to hell!"

The magazine was immediately trashed in a nearby garbage can. Kagome trod past the can fuming and puffing like a fire dragon on an especially hot day.

Why was it so hard to find a suitable job? She just wanted something decent, not too hard, and could earn her a bit of cash!

She halted. Biting her lips, she pondered for a moment before wheeling around to go retrieve the magazine that was violently thrown into the tall green bin back there. It wouldn't do to throw away her job search tool, would it? Her connection to the list of possible jobs out there lies in that single magazine.

Just when she was reaching out to pick up the magazine, she noticed a commotion throwing about nearby. Curious, she lifted her head up and looked.

A little boy about the age of 10 was surrounded by three young men who looked like rogues judging from their appearances. They seemed to be harassing the short, reddish-brown haired boy as they formed a circle around him and kept on pushing him around.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed. What was with morality these days?

x x x

Shippo tried to appear as menacing as he could in front of the three humans and glared at them.

After going through much turmoil in escaping the scary fierce dog, he bumped into one of these three humans. He immediately apologized and tried to pass, but they blocked him and insisted that he pays them money.

"Look at the stain that your hand has made on my expensive brand name shirt, brat." A human with nearly bleached-white hair indicated at an invisible stain on his garment. "The cleaning is going to cost me some money, say, about 5,000 yen?" He looked towards his fellow rogues for agreement.

The other two, one with red hair and one with pierced ears, nodded, both snickering.

Shippo gaped at them confusedly. He grabbed the bleached-haired man's shirt and took a closer look. "But I don't see any stains."

The man slapped Shippo's hands away. "Don't touch me brat! There's a stain when I say there is one. Are you going to pay up or not?" He was growing impatient and his tone contained a trace of viciousness.

Shippo gawked for a few seconds before realization dawned upon him. "You're bullying me!" He blurted out. He read about this type of human behaviour in one of the textbooks before. No wonder the guy was so rude and kept on asking him for money. It was all because this was part of the bullying behaviour. Ah~ now he understood.

"So what if we are?" The young man snapped. He grabbed Shippo and lifted him up by his front collar. "Look, brat, if you want it easy, just hand over your money. I know kids like you are rich these days. If you want this the hard way, don't say I didn't warn you, it'll get really nasty with me and my pals here – What the hell are you staring at? Get lost or I'll deal with you too!!!" Realizing that a few people had gathered around and were watching, the man turned his head and barked at them.

The spectators dispersed quickly like a flock of frightened chickens.

Satisfied, the man turned back to Shippo, a smirk on his face. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes, the hard way. As I was saying, if you want it the hard way, me and my pals here will – "

"Go to hell!!!"

The man was interrupted as a green lime landed squarely in his open mouth.

Having accidentally bitten into it, he gargled at the sour taste, but the fruit was firmly stuck in his big mouth as he tossed Shippo aside and grabbed at his throat to try to spit it out.

His two companions turned to see a girl with long, dark hair glaring venomously at them. Their tense expressions softened. It was just a girl. They could take care of that with no problem.

Shippo's eyes widened. It was Kagome! He was cheering inside because she was the only, okay, one of the two only links to the human world that he was familiar with.

Without a second thought, he bounced towards her and hid behind her back.

Patting the child lightly on the shoulder to assure him that he would be all right, Kagome shifted her attention back onto the men in front of her. What should she do? She was obviously outnumbered and she only knew the most basics of self-defence, which probably wasn't enough to protect both the little boy and her. She supposed that she could always try to take out one of them first and then deal with the other two, but she didn't think that she could do it quick enough to not allow the other two to have time to react.

Shoot… she landed herself in a dilemma. She had acted without thinking again, but she couldn't stand to see the little boy getting pushed around and the passersby pretending that nothing wrong was happening in front of their eyes as they kept on walking.

"Well, little girl, want to come and play with us?" The geek with the red hair said in a mocking tone.

"Dream on, you bastards. Why can't you pick on someone your own size? You people are nothing but worthless crap and cowards who only dared to threaten those who are weaker than you. You're afraid to see what sort of cowering weaklings you actually are in front of people who are stronger than you."

"My, my, fiery, aren't you?" The man with earrings grinned lopsidedly. He licked his lips. "Definitely my type. Exactly the way I like my woman to be."

"Back off!" Kagome took a step back as the two men advanced towards her, while the bleached-haired man was still coughing on the side.

The men were sneering as they took another step closer……

"Move aside, heroes. You are blocking the way." A gruff voice sounded right by one of the men's ears as he felt a hand roughly pushing him aside.

"What's your problem kid? Can't you see that we're busy here? Stay out of it or I can't promise that you'll still have your pretty face intact by the time I'm through with you!" The man with earrings lashed out at the young teen who pushed him aside.

Inuyasha sighed. What the hell was this geek talking about? Stay out of what? Better not find out. He'd already had enough trouble minding his own business. Shrugging, he replied, "Look, man, you're blocking my way. If you'll so kindly step aside and let me pass through, I'll gladly leave you alone to whatever you were doing before."

"Yeah, yeah, just go." The man waved his hand.

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha walked on, not even taking heed of the young girl and the little boy who seemed to be in trouble.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of tiny hands grabbing his left palm. He looked down to see the little boy holding on to him.

"Let go, kid." He frowned. What was wrong with this kid?

"Help," Shippo whispered and pleaded with his innocent puppy eyes. How could he let Inuyasha go when he was there right in front of him? Even in his human form, Shippo still had not forgotten his mission: to bring Inuyasha and Kagome together. This was one of another perfect scenarios described in the Idiot's Complete Guide to Becoming a Good Cupid. The boy had to save the girl before they fall in love! It would be good if Inuyasha could save him on the way too…

"Help?" His frown deepened. He glanced at the men and then back at the kid and the girl who was probably his sister and understood the situation. So that was what was happening here. Too bad. "Sorry, kid. I'm not a hero material. Afraid that I can't help you out here." He prepared to walk on.

However, the kid clung himself to him and wouldn't let go.

"Hey! Let go!" Inuyasha tried to pry the boy off of him, but he was keenly stuck onto him like an octopus.

"Look, Mr. Silver-Hair, are you going to get lost or what?" The earring man was getting impatient. He hated it when people interrupted his fun.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm busy here?" Inuyasha responded as he desperately tried to push Shippo off.

A punch landed on Inuyasha's right cheek before he even had the chance to register what was happening. He fell to the ground from the impact and looked dazed.

"Nobody tells me to shut up. Don't forget, we're the ones giving order here." The earring man spat.

"Why you…!?" Wiping the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, Inuyasha launched himself at him. Now that Shippo's hold had loosened when he fell, he was free to move about.

Kagome stared wondrously at the scene in front of her. That was certainly an unexpected turn of event. At first, it seemed like the white-haired teen was just going to pretend that he didn't see what was happening and leaving them behind, but the next moment, he jumped on one of the rogues. Well, although the reason that he was fighting them was more like getting his own revenge than helping them out, Kagome was more or less relieved at not having to take on so many guys at once.

Inuyasha cursed as a third man jumped him from behind. He hadn't noticed the third person who was originally kneeling on the side coughing. Now that he had recovered, he joined in the fight. It was now one against three. Inuyasha wasn't faring well when he had one person on his back and two coming at him from the front. That was, until the eggs decided to join in the fight.

Each one of the ruffians clawed at his face as numerous eggs cracked and spluttered on his forehead. They backed off for a moment as they tried to wipe the sticky gooey material off of their face, all the while cussing loudly.

In the midst of the chaos, a hand grabbed Inuyasha and tugged.

"Run," he heard a light female voice say as he still tried to gaze out of the slit of his swelling left eye.

Led by a soft hand, Inuyasha blindly followed. He ran away from a fight.


	4. My Ideal

**A/N:** Salut, mes amis! It's been a while (hiding behind the door as knives came flying at me) Hehe, okay, I admit. Three months is a LONG while. I kind of got sidetracked a little… all right! Fine! I got sidetracked a LOT! I sort of had numerous attempts to start on several other stories (Hikaru no Go, Beyblade, more Inuyasha, and I just thought of a plot for Spirited Away! Holy…), but… I think I'll put them on hold, simply because I can't manage so many stories at once. (Just wait until the day that I can't resist the temptation to write them and post them up) XP

To **kagome555, Moonlight-Miko, Sayori-chan, OfficiallyObssessedwithPyro, Tigeris, Lostinashadow, Bishie Chaser, AnimegirlH, TetsuoTsubushi, Sarcasm Girl8,** and **Ariel: **Mua! Mua! Mua! (kissing and hugging you guys) I luv ya all!!! Thank you for the reviews! Thank you! Thank you! (everyone dropped dead from the kiss) Err..... hadn't meant to kill you guys..... Didn't realize that I have Dementor's Kiss (from Harry Potter).

Oh, as to Totosai and chocolate pudding, I know, uurrrrgggghhhh But I had this craving for chocolate when I wrote that part in chapter 3. Hehehe...

**Disclaimer:** Um... errrr..... ya.......hm..... right........... you know the routine...................

* * *

**Chapter 4**

****

"I – I think we'll be safe here," Kagome paused to catch her breath. Fewsh that was close. She didn't know how long they had been running, but they had outrun those three rogues back there. She purposefully led them around in circles before losing them behind and putting some distance between them. Who would've thought that she'd still be playing hide-and-seek at this age? Then again, she supposed that one was never too old to relive the childhood fun, especially when emergency arises. Along this wild chase, she had held on tightly to the brown-haired kid in one hand and the silver-haired teen in the other as she guided them and herself to safety. Now that they were in a park several blocks away from where they had originally started their "marathon," she could finally relax and let down her guard.

Standing beside Kagome, still holding on to her hand, Inuyasha and Shippo were both panting heavily as they tried to take in as much of the deprived oxygen as they could in each breath.

Shippo believed that if he weren't getting support from Kagome, he would topple over and drop dead any moment. Who knew that the human body could experience so much physical discomfort and pain from running around? Not to mention that it tired easily. He really had to keep in mind of the frailty of humans from now on, and when he turned back into a cupid again, he would certainly give Totosai, his boss or not, a HUGE piece of his mind just for making him go through this unpleasantness. Oh, if only he were a cupid again. He could easily have covered this amount of distance in no time minus the physical stress. Save that thought for later. Now air, he really needed air Curse his luck, curse Master Totosai, and curse that chocolate pudding…

Inuyasha raised a hand to wipe off the sweat on his forehead and flinched when he touched the tender spot of his swollen left eye. Ouch! If he weren't taken by surprise by one of those bastards, he would show them… And by the way, why was he running for the past half an hour? Who was this girl beside him that led him on the run? Now that he thought about it, she made him run away from a fight! How dare she making a coward out of him!? Inuyasha never backed down from a challenge, but her… this strange, dark-haired girl… she put shame on his reputation! (A/N: Does he have a reputation to start with? Cough, cough…) He tried to glare at her, but failed miserably due to the fact that his left eye was swollen and his right cheek was aching painfully. He really couldn't put much expression onto his face when it was all battered up. Instead, he contented himself by studying her. Long, wavy, charcoal black hair slightly tousled from the run, large brown eyes, delicate nose, and soft lips that looked as if they were ready to part and blossom into a smile came into his squinted view (due to his swollen eye). She looked… passable, not someone who could give you a heart attack if she decided to jump out of the corner of the street at night yelling "Surprise!" Well, not that he was one who'd care about appearances and WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT WEIRD THOUGHT??? He must be suffering form a concussion………

Sensing intense gaze burning on the side of her face, Kagome tilted her head slightly and met Inuyasha's amber eyes. The boy hastily averted his gaze and redirected it somewhere else.

"Is there something on my face?" Frowning, Kagome inquired.

"No," The teen replied gruffly.

Deciding to pass it off, she led both Inuyasha and Shippo to an empty bench under the shade. "Come, you two. Sit here and I'll treat your wound." The last phrase was directed at Inuyasha who practically fell onto the bench seeing that he was actually tired out.

"Hmph." He crossed his arms.

Pulling out her handkerchief, Kagome went to look for the nearest water fountain. She wet the piece of cloth and quickly returned to the bench. She sat down between Inuyasha and Shippo and gently wiped off the blood and dirt on Inuyasha's face. _My, his face is really really battered up. The poor boy. Now I'm feeling guilty for getting him involved in this, although technically I didn't ask him to and his original intention wasn't to help us out, _Kagome thought to herself as she continued to clean Inuyasha's face. _At least his gorgeous white hair isn't as messed as his face is. _Huh? Hold on a minute. White hair? Hadn't she seen that somewhere before?

Suddenly, her eyes widened with recognition as she recalled certain tragic event. "Oh my god…" She breathed out.

"Ouch!" Inuyasha drew back as the girl pressed too hard on one of his cuts. "Watch it, will you?"

Noticing her dumbfounded look, he waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, are you all right? What's with you?"

"You… that day… the coffee shop…" Kagome was incapable of forming coherent sentences as she tried to register the prank that coincidence had played on her.

"Coffee shop?" Inuyasha was confused. He scowled. "What about cof—Oh!" Now he remembered.

"YOU!" They both pointed at each other.

"The Coffee Boy/Girl!!!" They echoed in unison.

Birds and pigeons nearby took flight as they were scared off by the unexpected loud noise.

"Did you know that I have to buy an entire set of new uniform just because you spilt coffee all over the old one? Not to mention the humiliation of getting home with half wet, half brown hair and dressed in that oversized track pants that threatened to slip off any minute?" Inuyasha was the first to blurt out. He shot an accusing look at Kagome.

"Well, I already apologized to you a million times that day and I'll apologize again today just to make you feel better and to show my sincerity. I am very very sorry for spilling coffee on you." Kagome shot back. Why was he saying all those things to her when she already felt bad about the entire incident? "But did you know I lost my job just because of that? Did you know that half of my pay was deducted to compensate for the loss of the café? Have you any idea how hard I searched before I got that job? Have you any idea how difficult it is to get a job?"

She knew she probably shouldn't sound so accusing, as if she was blaming the loss of her job on the teen boy sitting in front of her, but the volcano to her frustration that had been building up since that day had finally erupted. She bit her lips to prevent herself from saying more.

"Hmph." Inuyasha got up. He almost wanted to bite his tongue off. Why did he have to go out of his way to say those things just to make the girl feel even worse? He thought that she had caused him trouble when she spilt coffee on him, but he never considered that she would be in trouble because of that either. Now he knew, judging from the grievous expression on her face. Great, why was he feeling guilty all of a sudden? It wasn't even his fault to begin with! Arrgghh!!! He definitely needed to get his head X-rayed. He was turning so unlike his normal grumpy self.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Kagome called after him. Had she angered the teen boy?

"Home." Inuyasha replied, although he seriously doubted that he could make it with only one eye.

"Oh," Kagome twisted her handkerchief and lowered her head. Then she looked up and called after him again. "Wait! I just want to say thank you for helping me out earlier!"

Inuyasha turned. He fidgeted. He wasn't used to having people thanking him and now he felt even more weight on his conscience, because he didn't fight the bad guys with the intention of helping the teen girl and her brother on mind. "Don't thank me. I wasn't trying to help you and your brother."

"Huh? My brother is at home." She was confused for a moment as she thought of her little brother Souta. "Oh, no, the little boy here is not my brother."

Abruptly recalling that there was still another presence beside the teen boy and her, Kagome quickly turned towards the little brown-haired boy to ask if he was all right. Only the park bench was empty. Where did the little boy go? She was almost sure that he was still there a moment ago…

"Ahhh Hey! Let go of me, you little brat!" Inuyasha's frustrated voice came from five feet away.

Kagome whirled around to find that the boy had clung tightly onto Inuyasha like he did before the fight. How could she describe this sight? A baby kangaroo in the pouch of the parent kangaroo? A monkey hanging to a tree? A baby koala holding on to papa koala? It seemed more like an octopus closing in on its prey! She couldn't resist but smile at the sight of the teen getting his hands full with the little boy. Soon, the smile turned into a smirk, then laughter. The boy really had the limbs of an octopus! Except that he was four tentacles short!

"Hey! Quit laughing! Can't you tell your bro to get off of me here?" Inuyasha scowled at the girl doubled over with laughter. He managed to pry off the kid's right arm only to find that his right hand had already found its way to the hem of his shirt and was now clutching it tightly. He growled in frustration. Whatever did he do to deserve this?

Although he was ignored by the two for a short period of time, Shippo was content because the people on his matchmaking list were having a conversation with each other. That was definitely an improvement. Maybe they could finally learn each other's names and decide that they like each other after they talked? Then his task would be completed and he would graduate and become a fully licensed cupid! He could already see himself with a bright future ahead of him. He'd be the object of admiration, for being able to complete such a difficult task at his current apprentice level. He would be the star of all cupids and soon be promoted. When he became older, he would take over Master Totosai's role and be the head of everyone in the cupid world…… Ah The joy Eh? Had he daydreamed too long? Where was Inuyasha going? He wiped off his drool as he broke out of his reverie. No! He couldn't let him leave! Not when Kagome was right here!

It was amazing how old tricks were the best tricks. His "human gum" sticking tactics kept Inuyasha rooted to the ground. He wouldn't be able to leave Kagome now. Shippo silently congratulated himself as his right hand found a piece of Inuyasha's clothing to grab onto.

"He… he's not… he's not my brother." Kagome came forth as she replied, still breathless from all the laughter.

"Well, if he's not your brother, then how did you get mixed up with him?" Inuyasha's frowned deepened. "Urrggghh! Whatever he is, make him let go!"

"I saw him getting picked on by the three bastards back there, so I tried to help him. Then you jumped in shortly afterwards." Kagome explained as she bent down to be on the same level as the little boy. "Hey little guy, what's your name?"

The boy's light brown eyes blinked innocently. "My name is Shippo."

"Shippo? That's such a cute name. My name is Kagome. Say, Shippo, why are you clinging onto….um…" Kagome raised her head to the young teen inquiringly.

"Inuyasha. My name is Inuyasha." He answered automatically without second thought.

"Okay." She turned her attention back onto the boy. "So, Shippo, why are you clinging onto Inuyasha here?"

"I don't want him to leave." Shippo responded.

"You don't want him to leave? Why not?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.

The kid Shippo remained silent.

Seeing that he didn't want to answer, Kagome changed to another question. "Don't you have to go home, Shippo? Where are your parents?"

Huh? Parents? What are those? Shippo panicked for a moment, as he didn't know what parents were. Then he remembered that parents are the people that make you. Well, what should he say? Cupids weren't born from one another. Cupids were created from the essence of human love. How was he supposed to know who his parents were when he was created from the love essence of so many couples? He decided to remain silent to questions that he didn't know how to answer.

"Do you know how to get back home?" Kagome asked another question, since Shippo remained silent again.

Where he lived? Shippo racked his mind. He didn't know how to get back to the cupid world through human means. He supposed that count as not knowing how he could get back home. Therefore, he shook his head.

Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged a worried glance. Oh no, this kid must be lost. He didn't know his way home.

Inuyasha sighed. "Maybe we should take him to the police station. That way, when his parents get back and discover that he's missing, they'll be able to find him there." He suggested.

Kagome heaved a sigh as well. The poor kid. First he got rounded up by the rogues and now he couldn't find his way home. She really felt sorry for him. Wasn't there any way she could help him? She gave one last try. "Shippo, I don't suppose you remember your phone number?"

Again, Shippo shook his head.

"Right then." Kagome patted him on the shoulder. "Inuyasha isn't going to leave. He'll come with us to the police station, so can you let him go now?"

"Promise?" Shippo asked.

"Promise." Kagome smiled.

He then turned to look at Inuyasha.

"Promise." Inuyasha said begrudgingly. He had just sentenced himself to babysit the boy until they reached their destination. Great, just great. How did he get so sidetracked? All he wanted to do was go to the arcade in the first place! Somehow, he ended up in a fight, ran around like a blind rhinoceros for the longest time since he could remember, and now he was stuck with this strange octopus kid Shippo and the coffee girl Kagome. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that some mischievous being was playing tricks on the course of his life, making him take unexpected turns.

"Well, to the police station it is." Kagome stated as she once again held out her hand to grab Shippo's.

'Hmph." Came Inuyasha's usual gruff reply.

Out of the blues, the sound of someone's stomach growling could be heard. Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other before letting their gaze fall onto the tiny figure between them.

"Are you hungry, Shippo?" Kagome asked. "Do you want something to eat? How about a hotdog?"

"Okay," Shippo nodded his head. Hotdog sounded fine, although he didn't know how the taste would compare to the hotdogs in the cupid world.

"Feh," Inuyasha crossed his arms again. "The bratty kid is causing so much trouble. How could he be hungry at a time like this?" As soon as he finished the phrase, his own stomach growled.

Kagome gave him "the eye" before saying to no one in particular. "I guess I'll go buy three hotdogs then, one for each of us." With that, she jogged to the hotdog stand some distance away to purchase the food.

"You know, Inuyasha, you should be more honest about yourself." Shippo looked up at the older boy.

"Shut up, kid!" Inuyasha smacked him on the head, still feeling embarrassed about what had just happened. How could he have made such a fool of himself, especially in front of a girl that he hardly knew!?

"Hey! Leave the poor kid alone!" Kagome said sternly as she witnessed the scene. She handed a hotdog to each person. "Here's your hotdog. It cost me 150 yen."

Staring blankly at Kagome's outstretched hand, Inuyasha blinked. "Huh?"

"150 yen," She stretched her hand further. "You didn't think that you would let a girl treat you to hotdogs, did you?"

"Oh, fine." Realizing what she meant, Inuyasha scowled. He fished in his pocket for the 150 yen. Glad that he had brought change with him since he intended on hitting the arcade. "There you go." He handed Kagome the money. Then he muttered under his breath. "Stingy."

"If I had a job right now, I probably wouldn't begrudge this 150 yen hotdog." Kagome glared at him.

"Don't make it sound as if I made you lose your job," Inuyasha glared back.

Hungrily munching on his hotdog, Shippo looked from Kagome to Inuyasha and then from Inuyasha to Kagome. It seemed like the two were having lots of fun with their staring contest. It was so nice to see them both getting along so well…… (A/N: What gave you the idea, Shippo?)

"Um… I thought you guys said that you'd take me to this po-li-ce station place?" He finally chirped in now that his mouth wasn't full of hotdog. He toyed with the unfamiliar term on his tongue. "Po-li-ce." What the heck was that?

"Hmph." Both Inuyasha and Kagome broke off their eye contact and turned their faces in the direction away from each other. They marched on in silence.

"Go away, kids. I don't have the time to play with you guys right now. Can't you see that I'm busy here?" The policeman waved his hand dismissively when the three reached the local police station and explained their situation. "I've seen your type way too often. You two probably want to go on a date but didn't want your little brother to tag along, so you're gonna leave him here and retrieve him later. I've said this many times before and I'll say this again: the police station is not a daycare centre! Now run along." He shooed them away.

"Listen, you." Inuyasha growled. This policeman was… unbelievable! Was this the way to treat normal citizens? And to reject a lost kid coming here for help, dismissing it as a stupid child's play and a joke. He thought policemen were supposed to help the needy, not turn them down! "Let me get a few things straightened out, so your pea brain can understand. First, this kid is not my brother, nor hers. He really IS lost and can't remember his way home. Second, why in HELL would I ever want to date that girl?" He grabbed the policeman's sleeve and shouted.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? It's not as if I'd ever want to date you either! You're not even my type!" Kagome objected. "My ideal date is considerate, polite, nice-tempered, and generous, which is in every aspect not you!"

"Well, good, because you're not my type either! I prefer the intellectual and reserved type, and that's definitely not you!" Inuyasha shot back.

"Fine, we've both reached a consensus then. You're not my type and I'm not your type. That's very comforting to know."

"Hmph. For once we agree on something."

"Hey! You kids, watch it! This is the police station, not a common public place for the couple to fight. If you have nothing better to do, then GET OUT!" The irritated policeman bellowed.

"YOU!" He had definitely lightened the fuse that had just begun to cool down a bit. Both Inuyasha and Kagome turned on him, yelling in unison. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be fighting here! Why did you have to say that we're a couple, and with such ambiguity? Do we look like a couple to you, huh? Do we? Look again, because there's something wrong with your eyesight! And HELP THIS LOST KID FOR PETE"S SAKE!!!"

Shippo was really impressed with the scene in front of him. It wasn't everyday that one would see a full-grown adult intimidated by the combined wrath of two teenagers. That had to be saying something about the two. They could become something big when they grow up, perhaps the prime minister of Japan or the CEO of some huge company. Wow

"Well… fine… Leave him in the station then, if that's what you want." The policeman gulped. These two teenagers were really really scary… All he wanted to do now was run home and shiver beneath his trusty comfy blanket. Mommy! Dealing with scary teenagers wasn't part of the job description!

Without a word, Kagome grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from his desk. She scribbled down her name, address, and phone number, then handed it to the policeman. "I don't trust you enough to leave him in your care. You don't seem so reliable. I'll take the child home and let him stay for the night and come back tomorrow. If someone reports that there's a missing child, then contact me and I'll bring Shippo back right away. Until then, good day, officer." She then grabbed Shippo's hand and walked out of the local police station, her head held high.

Inuyasha followed behind wordlessly.

"I swear I'll never become like him when I join the police force." Kagome blurted out suddenly after silence had elapsed for some time.

Inuyasha looked towards her with interest. "You want to become a policewoman?"

"Yes. You've got a problem?" She said defensively.

"No, no, it sounds cool." He replied.

"What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?" Kagome asked curiously.

Inuyasha scowled. "That's none of your business."

"Well, fine." She pouted. "No need to be so rude."

"Hmph."

The three continued to walk in silence. It was close to evening, as the sun began to set, tainting the sky fiery red. People could be seen hurrying in every direction all around. Soon the streets would be empty as everyone headed back home after a long day of work.

"The truth is, I don't know." Inuyasha said after a while.

"Don't know what?"

"Don't know what I want to be. It's been like this: everyday I go to school and come back, not knowing what my goal is. Day after day, I do the same routine things without knowing why I do them and not knowing what is it that I want to do with my life. That's why everything is so boring to me and… and… I don't know." He trailed off hesitantly.

Kagome looked at him sympathetically. "Don't rush, Inuyasha. Just open your eyes and your ears and wait patiently. You will find you way eventually. Maybe… Maybe the time for that hasn't arrived yet."

He didn't reply and seemed to be deep in thought. It was quite surprising how he poured out his worry and frustration in just one single moment to a girl that he had just met. He shook his head. Really, his brain must have been damaged from the fight today.

"Well, this is where I live." Kagome pointed to the half-visible shrine located at the top of a small hill. They were now standing at the bottom of the stone steps. The dim streetlights flickered on as few crickets chirped in the early summer night.

"Eh?" Inuyasha looked around with an incredulous look on his face. "All this time we were walking towards your house? Then I could've headed to the subway station instead and be at home already! Why did I walk all the way here with you?"

Kagome gave him an odd look. "Well, I did say that I'm taking Shippo to my house back at the police station. I didn't say that you have to come along to my house, did I?"

"Hmmmm… I suppose not, now that I think of it." Inuyasha rubbed his chin.

Kagome rolled her eyes and made a face at him. "Dope."

"Whatever." He stuck out his tongue at her.

"Well, then, goodbye, I guess." Kagome began heading up the stone steps, leading Shippo.

"Okayl… see you around, if we ever run into each other again." Inuyasha headed off in the direction of the nearby subway station. His figure soon disappeared in the shadows cast by the nearby housings.

Kagome looked back, shook her head, and then climbed on, securing her grip on Shippo to make sure that he doesn't fall.

"Mom! I'm home! And I brought a guest!" Kagome called out as she opened the door. She was finally home and starving for some hot homemade food. "There, leave your shoes here Shippo. Oh, and don't be shy. My mom and brother are really nice, although my grandpa is a bit weird sometimes……"

"Bad spirit! Go away!" Grandpa jumped out of nowhere and stuck a paper seal on Shippo's head. He began chanting. "Good things come in, bad things go out."

"Grandpa!" Kagome sounded exasperated. "Stop it! You're scaring our little guest!" She immediately tore off the seal. "Sorry, Shippo, this is my grandpa. Don't be intimidated by him. He's just a little odd. Really, just a little… I think."

"Hello, grandpa." Shippo greeted the old man. "I'm Shippo, nice to meet you!"

"Oh, Kagome, dear, you've finally come back! I am so worried about you! You went grocery shopping for the entire afternoon! I was scared that something might've happened to you!" Mrs. Higurashi came out from the kitchen and greeted her daughter as she wiped her hands on her apron.

"I'm okay, mom. I just got sidetracked a little after my grocery shopping. The groceries are……" She shut her mouth abruptly and looked down at her empty hands. She faintly recalled what happened to the cartons of eggs and fruits. Her jaw dropped. "HOLY SHIT!!!!!"

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know this chapter isn't that funny, but... sorry, can't help it. Three months of not writing this and I've lost my touch. Yippee (Hey! Don't you guys know it's dangerous to throw weapons at people? Ahhh I would say that includes frozen rock-hard vegetables too! Try not to kill me please.... sob sob)


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